Having failed to take advantage of the toss, Bangladesh paid the full
penalty on the second day, as India's batsmen built up a formidable total
in favourable conditions. There were centuries for Sachin Tendulkar and
Rahul Dravid
after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir put together their
seventh three-figure partnership. With plenty of batting to come and the
lead already well over 200, Bangladesh were staring at another heavy
defeat.

It could have been worse if not for a Shahadat Hossan bouncer that didn't
lift appreciably and smashed into the side of Dravid's face. He retired
hurt straight away, and was taking for a precautionary check-up. By then,
the partnership with Tendulkar was worth 222, with both men taking heavy
toll of a tiring attack.

Tendulkar had taken 89 balls for his half-century, but he needed only a
further 45 deliveries to bring up his 45th hundred. He played his usual
array of sweeps, some of them with immense power, and threaded the odd
ball through the offside cordon as the runs came in a flurry. Dravid too
speeded up with a hundred in sight, and got there with a magnificent
off-drive off Shakib Al Hasan.

After his exit, Tendulkar and Murali Vijay consolidated. Vijay timed the
ball superbly in front of the wicket, and played a delicate late-cut off
Shakib in a 30-run cameo that ended when he came down the track and found
the man at mid-on. By then, Tendulkar had gone in similar fashion, having
already struck Shakib for six and four down the ground earlier in the
over. Harbhajan Singh edged the day's penultimate delivery from Shafiul
Islam behind, but with Yuvraj Singh to come, Bangladesh's bowling travails
were far from over.

They hadn't helped their cause by dropping Tendulkar twice, while Dravid
too enjoyed his fair share of fortune. Raqibul Hasan had batted poorly on
the opening day and his catching, or lack of it, cost his team on Monday.
Tendulkar had just survived an inside-edge off the impressive Rubel
Hossain when he miscued one in the direction of gully. Raqibul got both
hands to it, and dropped it. He was on 27 at the time, and when he had
made 50, Raqibul put down a more difficult chance to his left at point.
This time, Shahadat was the luckless bowler, and Tendulkar celebrated the
reprieves by batting with real fluency in the half hour before tea.

Smart stats

The 222-run stand between Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar is the 17th century partnership the two, which is a record for a single pair. Two pairs have 16 hundred partnerships - Hayden-Ponting and Greenidge-Haynes. Among Indian pairs the next highest is 12, between Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. (Click here for the full list.)

Dravid and Tendulkar have also put together four double-century stands, which ties them in second place with four other pairs. Hayden and Langer lead the way with six.

Tendulkar has become the first batsman to score 90 international hundreds, and is 23 clear of the second-placed Ponting. Brian Lara, with 53, is the only other batsman with more than 50 international centuries.

Gautam Gambhir's 68 is his 11th score of 50 or more in successive Tests, which equals Viv Richards' record. Richards achieved this feat over a 13-month period in the mid-1970s, when he scored seven hundreds and six fifties in 19 innings, averaging 94.10 in these 11 Tests. Gambhir has scored eight hundreds and five fifties during this period, averaging 89.89. (Click here for the full list updated before the start of this Test.)

Dravid's 111 is his 29th Test century, which is the eighth-highest in the all-time list. It's his third Test century versus Bangladesh, against whom he averages 70 in seven Tests.

Tendulkar has scored a hundred every time he has gone past 50 against Bangladesh. Thus, he has five hundreds and no half-centuries in seven Tests against Bangladesh, at an average of 136.67, which is easily his highest against any team.

Shakib had gone off with a shin problem, and as hard as the bowlers
toiled, with so few runs on the board, there was little pressure on the
batsmen, who picked the gaps and moved the score along steadily. Both men
came down the pitch occasionally to the spinners, and drove beautifully
through the covers, while Dravid also played some fine strokes through
midwicket. His good luck had arrived before lunch, and he made the most of
it. He had made just nine when Shafiul claimed a run-out after Gautam
Gambhir smashed one straight back down the pitch. The Bangladeshis were
convinced that Shafiul's little finger had brushed the ball, but with
replays inconclusive, the third umpire had to rule in the batsman's
favour.

Then, when he was on 28, an excellent bouncer from Rubel caught him
unawares. The fend was superbly caught by Junaid Siddique at slip, but
even as Dravid trudged off, Billy Bowden was signalling a no-ball. Having
resumed on 69 for 0, the Indians had seen Sehwag survive a very good shout
from Shahadat early on, and when he then cracked one through the covers to
reach 50, the omens were ominous. Gambhir too was in fluent touch,
clipping Shafiul through midwicket and using both cute deflections and the
straight bat to pinch fours off Shahadat.

Sehwag bludgeoned one straight to bring up three figures, but the very
next delivery reared up at him and took the glove on its way to Mushfiqur
Rahim. Dravid took his time to play himself in, and Gambhir assumed the
scoring mantle, with a back-foot punch and a guide through the slips off
Shafiul taking him to a half-century for the 11th match in succession -
equalling the record set by Sir Vivian Richards.

Having found his bearings, Dravid started to play some gorgeous strokes
through cover, off pace and spin alike, and when Gambhir was caught in an
ungainly tangle by Shafiul's bouncer, it was very much against the grain
of play. But with Tendulkar easing his way into the proceedings with a
nudge here and a push there, it was still India that held the ace-hand as
the teams went to lunch. After that, with Bangladesh unable to hold on to
the chances that came their way, it was all one-way traffic, 390 runs
worth of it.

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